Western Standard - Western Alienation

Western Alienation

Although 20% of the magazine's readership was in Ontario, the former motto of the Western Standard was "the independent voice of the new west", and its editorial voice expressed sympathy to Western Canadian issues. This was manifested in greater reporting coverage of Western problems, and a roster of opinion editorial voices calling for a remediation of same. In fact, a plurality of the magazine's columnists live in Central Canada, including David Warren, Michael Coren and Karen Selick, or in the Eastern U.S., including Walter E. Williams and Mark Steyn.

The Western Standard earned widespread national attention and even international coverage in the Wall Street Journal and in several Chinese newspapers for its large opinion poll in the summer of 2005, examining Western Canadians' appetite for independence from the rest of Canada as a large result of ongoing western alienation. In the October 9, 2006 issue, they did their second annual Western separation poll.

The magazine was openly critical, in its reporting and opinion columns, of policies it believed favour Central Canada, such as the Canadian Wheat Board, what it argued is the disproportionate allocation of Parliamentary seats to Central and Eastern Canada, and official bilingualism. The magazine also published an opinion editorial by Ric Dolphin whose frequently criticized Quebec and its politics – though Western and conservative politicians were not spared by him, either. Several of the magazine's columnists, including Warren have argued for Alberta's secession. Other Western Standard writers, such as Andrew Coyne, have argued strenuously against it, and former editor Kevin Libin has written skeptically on the subject.